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March 4, 2025 <br /> Louis Danielle 111, Chair <br /> Wndward Planning Commission <br /> Hawaii County Planning Department <br /> Aupuni Center <br /> 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 <br /> Hilo, Hawaii 96720 <br /> RE: Testimony for Special General Plan Meeting, March 10. 2025 <br /> Dear Mr. Damele. <br /> 1 am submitting testimony in support of the General Plan 2045- It is a solid plan for addressing <br /> many environmental issues with a strung focus on sustainability and resiliency for our island <br /> communities_ At the same time, we want sustainable development and infrastructure planning to <br /> ensure island communities Can meet the future needs of its people- <br /> ( am a resident of Volcano Village and 1 wotAd like to address Section 2: Collaborative <br /> Biocultural Stewardship. This part of the General Plan validates the values that we, in Volcano <br /> Village, hold dear These indude the preservation of the Volcano biosphere where people live, <br /> wont, and support sustainable property and land management practices to preserve the ohia <br /> forest overlay. However, current County zoning and regulatory measures fall short of ensuring <br /> sustainable stewardship of the Volcano biosphere. Regulatory measures are in dire need of <br /> revision because careless and unregulated activities Continue to destroy the forest overlay. <br /> VVhen coupled with climate change, this trend will lead to further forest degradation, loss of <br /> watershed protection and loss of endangered species found nowhere eise in the world. <br /> Volcano Village is a threshold community for the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park(HVNP), which <br /> is designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site for its biocuttural significance, as well as an <br /> UNESCO International Bposphere Reserve_ <br /> Volcano Village :s located in what can be regarded as a "kosphere reserve buffer zone {BRBZ)' <br /> and/or a "biosphere transition zone" since the Village, Volcano Community Golf Course and <br /> Mauna Loa Estates share boundaries with the core biosphere area of the HVNP, Keauhou Bird <br /> Conservation Center(State of Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife. U.S. Fish and Wildlife <br /> Service, San Diego Zoo Widlife Allcance,Three Mountain AlliancelKamehameha Schools), Ola'a <br /> Rainforest and two Natural Area Reserves of Pu'u Maka'ala and Kahauale'a. The very close <br /> proximity of the Volcano Village area to these protected biocultural assets reinforces our <br /> community's value to preserve the biosphere and ohia forest <br /> Evidence of dimate change is upon us in the Village and greater Volcano area as we observe <br /> drier seasons, ohia treefforest die back, increasing numbers of invasive plant and animal <br /> 1 <br />